U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,553 discloses a punch having a hollow removable blade for punching an opening in a sheet of cardboard or other similar material. The blade has a beveled cutting edge about an inlet end. The diameter of the blade increases from the inlet end to the outlet end to prevent the slugs from becoming compacted in the blade.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,968,763 discloses an apparatus and method for orienting a part detached from a web of parts. The apparatus and method use a duct with at least one interior sloped side to orient the part in a substantially vertical orientation.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,210,384 discloses a punch and die tooling apparatus commonly used by metal fabricators for creating holes, passages and cavities in metal plate. The die has a unique internal bore which relieves the problem of slug pulling to ensure that a slug punched out of a metal sheet is not retained on the punch face to interfere with further operation of the apparatus.